Solicita and Matilda Ford (fl. c. 1200) are the earliest known English women doctors by 150 years.[1] They were Anglo-Norman sisters who practiced medicine in the small settlement of Ford, Herefordshire, England, in the late twelfth century.

They are known from charters confirming their brother John's grant of land to Leominster Priory in the late twelfth century, where they both sign themselves as medica.[2] The title identifies them as physicians and implies that they had some training.[3]

Leominster Priory supported a poor hospital and a leper hospital and several of its early benefactors were physicians. Solicita, who was married to William of Ford, confirmed John’s donation and donated her own hereditary lands to the almoner of Leominster.[4] Matilda, who does not mention a husband, confirmed her charter with her own seal.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Kealey, Edward J.; Walton, Michael T. (1985). "Notes and Events: England's Earliest Women Doctors". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. 40 (4): 473–484. doi:10.1093/jhmas/40.4.473. ISSN 0022-5045. JSTOR 24633766. PMID 3905951.
  2. ↑ Kealey (1985), p. 473.
  3. ↑ Whaley, L. Women and the Practice of Medical Care in Early Modern Europe, 1400–1800. 2011. p. 20.
  4. ↑ Kealey (1985), pp. 474–6.
  5. ↑ Getz, Faye (2004). "Women medical practitioners in England (act. c. 1200–c. 1475), physician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54437. Retrieved 2023-11-29. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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